Reactions/Views of the Germans
November 9, 1989 was the beginning of the end for the Berlin wall. Crowds surged along the wall, Berliners were overjoyed at the prospect of reuniting with their friends and family that lived on the other side. In the ensuing days, "Maurspechte" (wall-peckers) came to help take down the wall. People gathered to chip away at the wall and gradually destroyed what had divided their lives for 28 long years. On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were officially reunited as one country. Only a few watchtowers and small sections of wall are left standing today, memories of a very difficult period in German history.
"The wall was an edifice of fear. On Nov. 9, 20 years ago, it became a place of joy. For 28 years, East Germans could not even approach it. On Nov. 9, 1989, people danced on it and the world looked different afterward"
~German President Horst Koehler.
~German President Horst Koehler.
Reactions/Views of the Officials
Anatoly Chernyaev's Diary Entry The Day The Wall Fell, 10 November 1989
When the wall had fallen on the night of Nov. 9, 1989, Gorbachev's foreign affairs adviser, Anatoly Chernyaev, recorded the moment in his diary.
Translation:
"November 10, 1989
The Berlin Wall has collapsed. This entire era in the history of the socialist system is over. After the PUWP and the HSWP went to Honecker. Today we received messages about the "retirement" of Deng Xiaopeng and Todor Zhivkov. Only our "best friends" Castro, Ceauescu, and Kim Il Sung are still around-- people who hate our guts.
But the Main thing is the GDR, the Berlin Wall. For it has to do not only with "socialism," but with the shift in the world balance of forces. This is the end of the Yalta ... the Stalinist legacy and "the defeat of Hitlerite Germany."
That is what Gorbachev had done. And he has indeed turned out to be a great leader. He has sensed the pace of history and helped history to find a natural channel.
A meeting with Mush is approaching. Will we witness a historic conversation? There are two main ideas in the instructions M.S. gave me to prepare materials: the role of the two superpowers in leading the world to a civilized state and the balance of interests. But Bush might disregard our arguments. We do not really have anything to show except for the fear that we could return to totalitarianism. "
~ Source: Anatoly Chernyaev's Diary, Manuscript. On file at the National Security Archive, Translated by Vladislav Zubok and Anna Melyakova
Translation:
"November 10, 1989
The Berlin Wall has collapsed. This entire era in the history of the socialist system is over. After the PUWP and the HSWP went to Honecker. Today we received messages about the "retirement" of Deng Xiaopeng and Todor Zhivkov. Only our "best friends" Castro, Ceauescu, and Kim Il Sung are still around-- people who hate our guts.
But the Main thing is the GDR, the Berlin Wall. For it has to do not only with "socialism," but with the shift in the world balance of forces. This is the end of the Yalta ... the Stalinist legacy and "the defeat of Hitlerite Germany."
That is what Gorbachev had done. And he has indeed turned out to be a great leader. He has sensed the pace of history and helped history to find a natural channel.
A meeting with Mush is approaching. Will we witness a historic conversation? There are two main ideas in the instructions M.S. gave me to prepare materials: the role of the two superpowers in leading the world to a civilized state and the balance of interests. But Bush might disregard our arguments. We do not really have anything to show except for the fear that we could return to totalitarianism. "
~ Source: Anatoly Chernyaev's Diary, Manuscript. On file at the National Security Archive, Translated by Vladislav Zubok and Anna Melyakova
" [...] come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" ~ Ronald Reagan, Brandenburg Gate, 12 June 1987 Source: Online Britannica Encylopedia |
" [...] something that happened that inevitably had to happen [...]" ~ Mikhail Gorbachev speaking at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin Source: Al Jazeera English |
" [...] the coming down of the wall and the unification of Germany would be the most historic thing that happened on my watch." ~ George Bush speaking at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin Source: Al Jazeera English |